Breakaway
by AppleDanish
Summary: Inspired by the song 'Breakaway' and another songfic for 'Checkmate'. This time, Danny actually understands how Vlad really feels and why he does these evil things. But what they do for each other that's so special changes everything..... Father/Son bond


**Breakaway**

**By DannyTimmygirl327**

**Summary: I finally had time to write another songfic for Pearl84's story: Checkmate. This time, the song I chose was 'Breakaway' by Kelly Clarkson. I do not own 'Checkmate', Danny Phantom, or 'Breakaway'. the following one-shot/songfic is a father/son pairing. Not a slash (thank god) This is one of my favorite pairings (which is not cannon or slash or anything) Danny/Vlad, father-son pairing : :D**

_Grew up in a small town, _

_And when the rain would fall down,_

_I'd just stare out my window._

_Dreaming of what could be,_

_And if I end up happy,_

_I would pray._

Danny sat on the edge of the roof of the incredibly high mansion. He was in ghost form, so the chilly air didn't really bother him. The wind whipped through his snow white hair, causing it to blow softly in his face.

"This actually feels better than any other time I've been out here," He whispered to himself. In fact, he hadn't felt serene in days. He'd been there for a month, but to him, it felt like an eternity.

Suddenly, Danny felt something fall on his shoulder. He looked up at the sky, seeing another raindrop fall on his nose. "Great," He muttered, the air growing colder than normal. He shivered a bit before standing up.

The boy gave the gray sky a determined frown. The rain fell down on him as if he were a solid concrete statue. His hair began to feel heavy with water and his eyes stared hard and cold in the distance. He knew he couldn't stay this way forever, for his bravery was becoming weaker and his fear grew with his enemy's presence.

Danny sighed and transformed back into his human half. Immediately, his clothes became soaked and his eyes grew wary. He opened the door and walked down the stairs back into the house.

He walked down the hall and made his way into the bedroom. "Maybe a little nap would help…" He thought, falling onto the bed. He kicked off his damp shoes and pulled off his shirt. He tossed both onto the floor effortlessly.

The teenager yawned before slowly closing his eyes. He heard his stomach protest as it inferred him he was hungry. He rolled over on his side and stared out the window.

"I wanna go home…" He whispered one last time before falling asleep. Of course, he didn't have the courage anymore to say anything smart or insulting to Vlad lately.

He didn't even know who he was anymore.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.

Vlad walked down the hallway towards Danny's room. Of course, he hadn't heard or seen him all day due to a private meeting he had in downtown Madison.

He checked with George to see if he had eaten anything at all. It had been a few hours since Danny had anything.

He slowly opened the bedroom door, seeing Danny sleeping peacefully. He raised an eyebrow as opposed to why he was soaked, but shrugged it off. He approached him and pulled the blanket over the boy's exhausted body, who tensed up at first, but relaxed himself.

"Is this all you do?" Vlad questioned thoughtfully, wondering why Danny felt the need to sleep so much. By now, he knew the boy was afraid of him, but his brave exterior somewhat showed otherwise.

"I know you try, Daniel, and I know you fear me. You're just too afraid…" Vlad whispered, stroking Danny's hair gently. He smiled as the boy began to stir. He unconsciously wrapped his arms around his body, shivering because of the cold air. Vlad pulled the blankets over his cold body, seeing him relax once more.

_Trying hard to reach out,_

_But when I try to speak out,_

_Felt like no one could hear me…_

_Wanted to belong here,_

_But something felt so wrong here,_

_So I'd pray…_

_I could breakaway…_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The next day, which was a Saturday, Danny sat on the edge of the windowsill, his baby blue eyes wide and distance.

"Daniel?"

He turned around slightly, seeing Vlad entering the room. Without any expression, he turned back to the sky, watching the birds fly across the equally matching colored sky. The sun gleamed down on his skin, giving off a beautiful glow that surrounded Danny's body. Even his clothes received the beautiful sheen. His hair swooned in the breeze, elegantly flowing with the rhymetic pattern of the wind.

"Yeah?" He replied, barely taking his eyes off the sky. Vlad walked over to him and carefully climbed the windowsill, perching himself next to Danny.

Both halfas seemed to be in endless silence, until Vlad spoke once again. "Uh… Daniel? You do know that I really…" He seemed to be at a loss of words. Danny looked up at him, showing him the same expression on his face. It seemed blank, but his eyes were filled with so many emotions.

"Well…" Vlad fingered with the fabric in his jacket before saying anything else. He just couldn't word it right how he felt for him right now. He longed for him to be his son; to be the one, who he could've taught everything he knew, showed him everything he saw, and heard everything he could hear. In fact, Danny's baby blue eyes reminded him of his mother's, when she was still alive. They were the perfect shade of blue; not too light and not too dark.

Just… perfect.

"Vlad?" Before he could build up enough courage to tell him, he turned to Danny in reply. "I… well… It's just… I wanna go home so badly, but…" He took a deep breath. "It's just… I really appreciate what you're doing for me. I mean, I miss my mom so much, you wouldn't even understand," His voice dying into a whisper.

Vlad's Sapphire eyes were cast downward. In fact, he knew exactly how Danny felt. His mother actually died when he was 12 years old, murdered by his own father. After that, he abused Vlad until he ran away and scraped up enough to afford college by age 18.

"Danny? Did you know that I lost my mother when I was 12, a little younger than you?" He asked, tears coming to his eyes. Danny suddenly looked up, his eyes shocked. "I… had no idea," He whispered.

Suddenly, Vlad's anger seemed to overcome him because he stood up and shouted, "I didn't even get to say goodbye to her! My goddamn father killed her! Now do you know why I'm the monster I am today?! Do you know why the hell I'm like this?! DO YOU?!" His face was flustered red and was streaked with tears.

Danny couldn't believe it. Vlad actually had a past… a past that was brutal and…

Sorrowful.

"I'm so sorry." He sighed, closing his eyes. He tried to avoid the tears coming to his eyes. He also lost someone, but not the way Vlad did. He lost someone to a battle; a battle so strong and long that even he couldn't win it.

"My mom actually had a twin brother, did you know?" Danny said, glancing at Vlad in acknowledgement. He looked at him and nodded. "Why, yes I did. What happened to him?"

"Well, he… was in a battle. It was kinda an inside battle, actually. For 15 years, he was battling lung cancer, but he received treatment for years. In fact, he was my favorite uncle. I knew him for so long…. And I was only 5 when he died. I cried all day at his funeral, because I couldn't believe that he was gone. I really miss him," By the end of the story, Danny was turned the other way, his body shaking. Vlad looked over at him. He could tell Danny was crying, so he pulled him into his embrace.

"We are more alike than you'll ever know, Daniel…" He whispered, rocking him back and forth as Danny continued to cry softly. His hands went from his tearfilled face to reaching out and wrapping his arms around Vlad. He just couldn't stop crying, not aware of Vlad comforting him.

He wanted to make the pain go away…

But he just couldn't.

_I spread my wings and I learn how to fly,_

_I do what it takes 'till I touch the sky._

_Make a wish,_

_Take a chance,_

_Make a change_

_And breakaway._

_Out of the darkness and into the sun,_

_But I won't forget all the ones that I love._

_Take a risk, _

_Take a chance_

_Make a change _

_And breakaway…_

Later that evening, Danny made his way downstairs to the kitchen. Surprisingly, he spotted Vlad reading the newspaper while sitting at the counter, sipping a cup of tea.

Vlad looked up, sensing, his presence in the room. He smiled and said, "Good evening, Daniel. You're looking much better, I must say."

Danny sighed and sat across from him. George floated to Danny and gave him a sincere smile. "Hello, you man. What will it be, tonight?" He asked, pulling out a notebook. Danny shrugged and replied, "Can I have a chicken sandwich with... swiss, lettuce, no tomatoes, and... some mayo, please?"

George nodded before heading towards the kitchen quarters.

"Uh... Daniel? May I ask you something?" Vlad asked hesitantly, setting down his newspaper.

Danny looked up and nodded, sipping on a glass of lemonade.

"Have you been feeling any... differently?" He whispered. Danny looked at him and sighed. "Well, I do have a question about my powers," He said, with a strange look in his eyes. Vlad stared at him, wondering what on earth he could have ot ask him. What perplexed him even more was the fact that Danny was even considering his assistance.

"When I'm in ghost form, why do I feel colder than when I'm in human form? And why is my body temperature lower than normal?" He asked, shivering from the lemonade's chilly interior. Vlad thought for a moment, before answering. "Well, it's apparant that ghosts do not have human qualities, such as a heart, bloodstream, internal organs, and such. We are warmblooded and our body heat helps us stay alive. But as halfas, like us, still have those human characteristics, but we don't have most of them, per se. For example, in ghost form, when we bleed, our blood is an etcoplasmic green, but in human form, we bleed both human red blood and green etcoplasmic blood. Basically, we are both warm and coldblooded beings, being ghosts and humans alike. Do you understand?"

Danny nodded and said with a sly smile on his face, "You are the first person who kept me awake with a scientific health lesson."

Vlad chucked a bit. He knew Danny was interested for some reason, he just wondered why.

"Really? Science is that boring to you?" He asked, rubbing his chin in thought. Danny nodded, then said, "Well, the way Mr. Lancer talked about it. I used to just tune him out. I mean, seriously, what could be more boring than listening to him talk?" Both of them laughed at his comment.

Just then, Vlad developed a thought. "Daniel, can you follow me, please? It'll only be for a moment or two,"

Danny relutantly got up and followed Vlad out of the kitchen. They walked through the hallway, up some stairs and reached a large door.

"Now, you said there couldn't be anything more interesting?" He asked. Danny raised an eyebrow. He never actually said that, he recalled. Seeing his puzzled expression, Vlad slowly opened the door and allowed Danny to enter first. He carefully walked in, his face when from confused to amazed.

"Oh, my..." He whispered, staring into the room that seemed to be a planetarium. There were millions of stars and their constellations glistening above on the ceiling of the room, which was specially made midnight blue. He ran over to the giant telescope that opened up towards the sky, which was slowly receiving the same color as the room's ceiling. There were models of almost every spacecraft, rocket, and device in the room. He even had a prime model of the Explorer Hartman hanging from the ceiling.

Suddenly, Danny's eyes saddened as he remembered receiving the same model on his birthday, a little over a month ago. He tried to remember if he brought it, but he couldn't recall.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Vlad said from behind him. Danny looked up, his eyes glistening with pure amazement. "How-and why- do you have all of this here?" He asked, his fingers blissfully longing to touch the materials in the room.

"Just in case I needed it for some reason," He replied, walking over to the telescope. He motioned Danny to join him, and as if in a trance, he walked next to him. The lights flickered off and the entire room let off a beautiful moonlit glow. Vlad looked through the telescope, saying, "It's lovely out, tonight, come see for yourself." Danny peeked into the telescope, seeing the moon glowing beyond the sky and the stars were extra bright tonight. He could only see the stars shine so blissfully at home, but out here, with no lights and city noises to distract him... it was amazing.

"Why are you showing me this?" He asked, not taking his eyes from the sky. Vlad shook his head and whispered, "I figured you'd be amazed by something in your forte, so I decided to make you feel.. better adjusted here by giving you something you'd treasured in your heart for a long time..."

"Since I was 2 years old, I wanted to be an astronaut." Danny interrupted, knowing what he was going to say. He took his eyes from the sky, turned to Vlad and smiled. "Thanks." Surprisingly, he gave him a heartfelt hug. Vlad was shocked by this notion at first, but he wrapped his arms gently around him and knelt down. "It was my pleasure, Daniel. I did this for you..."

_Wanna feel the warm breeze,  
Sleep under a palm tree.  
Feel the rush of the ocean,  
Get onboard a fast train,__  
__Travel on a jet plane,  
Far away,  
And breakaway..._

That night, Danny sat on the rooftop once again, feeling the cool, gentle breeze flow through his black, ebony hair. He was already dressed for bed, rubbing the soft fabric between his hands. He wrapped his blanket around his body, trapping in the heat. He hadn't done this at home, back in Amity Park, but he felt that being here, he needed to. He wished he could for once hear the comforting sound of the ocean and feeling the breeze of the shore.

But he knew that would be impossible.

He took a deep breath, breathing in the chilled breeze and allowing the wind to gently caress his hair in such a carefree manner. He glanced down at the sketchbook beside him, wondering how it got there in the first place.

"That's odd," He whispered, picking it up and flipping the pages. They were, strangely enough, all empty.

"I guess it's here for me to draw or something," Without a second thought, Danny picked up the ballpoint pen and slowly let the tip glide onto the paper. He used to draw at home, but he never showed anyone his work. He was often somewhat self-conscious about what he drew.

After about an hour, Danny almost completed his masterpiece, when he heard footsteps walk out onto the rooftop. He turned around, spotting Vlad approaching him. "I thought you'd be asleep by now." He assumed, sitting beside Danny. He just shrugged and quickly closed his sketchbook.

Of course, Vlad didn't leave this sudden notion unnoticed and asked, "What did you draw?"

Danny blushed a little and said, "It's nothing, really. You wouldn't like it." But before he could get a good grasp on the sketchbook, Vlad grabbed it and flipped it open. His eyes widened, he was so amazed by his drawing.

It was a perfect drawing of Vlad, in human form, standing there next to the telescope he showed Danny earlier, while the picture showed Danny, looking through the telescope with a smile on his face. They were out on a balcony, with a starfilled background, containing the moon and a few shooting stars in the distance.

"Daniel... where did you learn to draw like this??" He whispered, fingering the picture's edge in awe.

Danny just shrugged. "I dunno, I guess it just came to me naturally. I have sketchbooks filled with drawings that no one knows about."

"May I see them?" He asked. Danny stood up from his position. "If you want. I only brought two of them with me,"

For a while, Danny showed Vlad everything he drew in and outside his sketchbooks. Some of them were hilarious comics and some were in a deep, more depressing manner. But everything Danny ever drew was always in pen. It was as if he were flawless enough to create art that didn't need to be perfected, didn't need an eraser or whiteout. They were perfect.

Just like him, they were special.

_I spread my wings and I learn how to fly,_

_I do what it takes 'till I touch the sky and I _

_Make a wish,_

_Take a chance,_

_Make a change,_

_And breakaway..._

_Out of the darkness and into the sun,_

_But I won't forget all the ones that I love,_

_Take a risk,_

_Take a chance,_

_Make a change,_

_And breakaway..._

At around one in the morning, Danny fell asleep with his sketchbook and pen in his arms. Vlad walked in quietly and smiled, seeing Danny sleeping peacefully with one of the few things he enjoyed by his side. He carefully pulled the sketchbook from his arm, but as soon as he did, Danny's eyes tightened a little and he let out a soft moan of discomfort. Vlad realized he wanted to sleep with the book by his side, so he removed his hands from it and pulled the blanket over him. "Good night, Daniel. I'm glad I found something in here that makes you smile..." He whispered, before exiting the room. Little did he know that as soon as he turned his back, Danny gave him a small smile in his sleep.

_Building with 100 floors,_

_Swinging 'round revolving doors,_

_Maybe I don't know where it could take me, but_

_Gotta keep moving on, moving on_

_Fly away..._

_Breakaway..._

For about 5 hours the next day, Danny stayed in his room, rapidly and carefully sketching a large picture. But this time, he used markers, paints, and colored pencils as his base materials. He told Vlad that he didn't want him to see it until it was finished, so he left him alone.

By dinnertime, Danny was finished with his mystery picture. He sighed deeply and wiped away some of the sweat from his forehead. He picked up the paper and rolled it up like a scroll. He made his way downstairs and walked into the kitchen.

Vlad happened to be sitting at the counter, reading the newspaper. He smiled when he spotted Danny walk in with the drawing he worked so hard on. "Good evening, Daniel." He said. Danny gave him a nod in reply and sat across from him. He played with the paper nervously in his hands until he looked up and asked, "Uh... Vlad? Do you wanna see my picture? I finally finished it."

Vlad held out his hand and Danny willingly gave him the paper. He carefully unrolled it and spread it out on the countertop with his hands. He gasped in awe once again, but this time, it was even more beautiful that yesterday's sketch.

Danny had drawn, painted, colored, and finalized the perfect piece of art. He made a picture of every villain, friend, family member, and classmate he ever knew, all perfectly done and made to look just like them in reality.

"Daniel..." Was all he could say. Without warning, he grabbed Danny by the arm and pulled him into his embrace, hugging him with tears falling from his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked, wondering why his picture was making him so emotional.

"Yes, it's just..." He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder as he saw Danny look at him with sincere eyes.

"The most beautiful thing you've ever seen, right?"

He pulled another picture from behind it, knowing that was the one that was making Vlad so emotional. Danny has found a picture of Vlad's mother in a photo album and spent the entire day perfecting it by drawing and coloring it for him. He made her eyes extra bright, adding an amber shade to her past aquamarine eyes and shadow to her auburn hair. He did justice on the smile, making it broader than any other.

"Thank you so much, Daniel." He whispered, hugging the boy once again. But this time, he hugged him back.

"It was the least I could do, since you've done so much for me... thank you, yourself."

_I spread my wings and I learn how to fly,_

_Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye._

_Make a wish,_

_Take a chance,_

_Make a change,_

_And Breakaway..._

_Out of the darkness and into the sun,_

_But I won't forget the place I come from,_

_Take a risk,_

_Take a chance,_

_Make a change,_

_And breakaway..._

_Breakaway..._

_Breakaway._

A/N: FINALLY! I finally finished it! :D I absolutely love this song and one of my favorite pairings: DXV: father/son bond. It's just too cute! As always, read and review, please! Oh, as for the picture that Danny drew: it was of every character ever mentioned in all three seasons. I was thinking about doing something like this, but I need bigger paper!


End file.
